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This off-spinner was the net bowler of Chennai Super Kings for many years.
In the nets, the off-spinners troubled all the batsmen including Dhoni.
New Delhi. Chennai Super Kings (CSK) head coach Stephen Fleming has admitted that not being able to buy Varun Chakravarthy in the Indian Premier League (IPL) auction still hurts him. Varun Chakraborty was the net bowler of Chennai Super Kings for a few years and troubled the Chennai batsmen including captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni a lot. However, Punjab Kings (then Kings XI Punjab) bought Varun Chakravarthy in the IPL 2019 auction for Rs 8.4 crore. His debut was forgettable. After this the franchisee released him. In the 2020 auction, Kolkata Knight Riders bought Varun Chakravarthy for Rs 4 crore and since then he has been associated with the same franchise.
IPL 2023 has been fantastic for the 31-year-old cricketer. He has taken 19 wickets in 13 matches at an average of 20.58. Varun Chakravarthy played a key role in Kolkata Knight Riders’ 6-wicket win against Chennai Super Kings at the MA Chidambaram Stadium on Sunday, 14 May. Varun took 2 wickets for 36 runs. In the post match presentation, CSK coach Stephen Fleming told that after knowing about Varun Chakraborty’s talent, he regretted not being able to keep him in his team.
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Stephen Fleming said in the press conference after the match, “We still regret losing Varun. He troubled us in the nets for many years. We couldn’t buy them at auction. And the talk is about the players of Tamil Nadu around different teams. They knew about them too and we were unable to keep them a secret. We were very impressed with him as a talent when he used to bowl against us in the nets. We like them. He was sold for a huge price in the first year.
Stephen further said, “He was out of form for some time. He also had some injuries, but now he is looking fit. He bowled very well on Sunday. That’s why it is a weapon. When you have Sunir Narine and Varun Chakravarthy, both are a great combo in the right conditions. Probably in Kolkata, he doesn’t get the most favorable conditions to bowl, so he excels in such conditions.”
Varun Chakraborty has played 55 matches in the IPL so far and has taken 61 wickets at an average of 25.61 and an economy rate of 7.41. Regarding the defeat on Sunday, Fleming said that his team could not understand the situation very well. He said, “We failed to read the situation. It was a tough match for the batsmen. There was a lot of bounce in the wicket in the beginning, which gradually ended. We are still learning to play in these new conditions. The Chennai team has returned to its home ground after two years.
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Tags: chennai super kings, IPL 2023, Kolkata Knight Riders, ms dhoni, Stephen Flemming, Varun Chakraborty
FIRST PUBLISHED : May 15, 2023, 14:51 IST